1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to robots and costumes with robotic portions that can be animated or articulated while worn such as character heads with a mouth and eyes that can be articulated or moved via robotics or similar drive systems or assemblies, and, more particularly, to systems and methods for controlling robots or robotic assemblies, such as those used to provide facial animation of a worn character head, so as to allow photographers (i.e., nearly any viewer with a camera) to capture improved photographs of the robots and robotic characters.
2. Relevant Background
Actors, performers, or puppeteers wear costumes when they perform as a character such as in a live show, in a parade, in interactive entertainment settings, and in venues that call for a character to walk among and nearby audience members or guests. For example, costumes may include character heads that a performer wears on top of or covering their own head, and such character heads have been designed to allow motion of costume features such as to allow moving the mouth to move in synchronization to an audio output or the performer's voice. In other cases, the eyes may be moved or articulated and/or the eyelids may be opened and closed, and other features may also be moved such as expressive eyebrow movement. Such animation of the costume features and, particularly, of the head or face has been well received by audiences as the articulation or movement helps to bring the character to life and enhances the entertainment experience of the audience members or guests.
In a typical articulated character head, the mouth and eye motions may be provided with motorized motions. A performer may wear sensors on their fingers and their finger movements provide inputs or control signals (e.g., analog input signals) that cause a radio or remote controlled (RC) servo or any other driver (e.g., an AC or DC motor, a pneumatic driver, a hydraulic actuator, an artificial muscle device, and so on) to move the portions of the costume such as to open and close a character's mouth or eyes when the performer moves their fingers. In addition to control by the performer, RC controllers with joysticks, switches, and knobs similar or equivalent to the controllers used to control hobby cars and planes may be used to remotely control or operate the RC servos so as to allow someone offstage or “wayside” to wirelessly control facial movements or move other costume features by providing real time or live control signals. In many cases, facial movements including those of the mouth and eyes may be achieved with a facial motor controller that operates the one or more drives such as servo motors to animate the face or other features of the character head (or body, in some cases), and the facial motor controller may receive signals from a control program run locally and/or remotely by a microcontroller or computer.
In other cases, robots or robotic-operated characters are used in many entertainment venues, without requiring a human operator or actor to wear the robotics. These robots or robotic characters may be animated, similar to a character head worn by an actor or performer, to entertain an audience or guests of an entertainment facility. For example, one or more robots or robotic characters may entertain audiences with their movements being scripted or initiated by a controller or computer running a show software program to selectively operate a facial or other controller. A well-known example of such a use of robots is on a stage of a family restaurant or along a path of an amusement park ride that has slower moving portions or show portions.
The use of robots and characters with robotic portions such as faces has been well-received in many entertainment applications. Viewers especially are attracted to the animation or movements of the eyes, mouth, heads, hands, arms, and other elements of these robots and robotic characters that make them come alive, allow them to interact with the viewers or audiences, and give them human-like characteristics including a unique personality.
More than ever, audiences and visitors to entertainment facilities carry a camera and a large part of the entertainment is capturing photographs (e.g., pictures or digital images) of their entire experience. This includes their viewing of, and personal interaction with, robots and robotic characters. However, capturing a quality photograph can be a challenge in many cases due to the animation or movements that make these robots and characters so entertaining. As one example, a robot may be moving his head or arms quickly as part of a show or act, and photographs taken of the moving robot may be blurred due to the movement or the robot may simply have moved into a pose or position that is not as desirable to the photographer. In another example, a character head worn by a performer or a robot head may have the ability to blink its eyes, and, as with photographs of people, a photographer may operate a camera to capture an image during mid or full blink such that the photo opportunity produces a photograph in which the character's eyes are partially or fully closed. Often, the poor photographic results are not noticed until later or the opportunity is only available for a very short time such as during a ride or when there is a queue of others waiting for their photo opportunity with a character, which limits the photographer's ability to capture more photographs or do a retake.
Hence, there remains a need for improved methods and systems for obtaining quality photographs of robots and robotic characters (e.g., any mechanized object that is driven, moved, or animated by motor controllers or the like).